AN: This chapter is dark. Not as dark as the end of Part II, but pretty close. *Trigger Warning* for sexual assault, but trust in the bad-assery of Daryl and Austin.

The Walking Deth- Part III

Where We Belong - Chapter VI

Nobody's Bitch

I fucking loved eating Beth's peach. She tasted fucking fantastic. The moans and sighs and small sounds she made sent my head spinning. The way she moved her hips and tugged at my hair drove me wild. I could do it for hours on end, if my tongue didn't start to ache, and if I didn't need to have a piss.

I wiped my hand through the hair on my chin that was heavy with slick, sweet smelling, and sweet tasting moisture and I licked what was left off my lips savouring the lingering flavour. I shifted my arms from where they were wrapped around her thighs, and pulled myself forward so I could rest my chin on her belly and look up at her tits as they rose and fell with her staggered shallow breaths.

Beth lifted her head from where it had been hanging off the sofa arm and looked down on me with her big round blues. Her cheeks were flushed and curls of her blonde hair were matted to her forehead among beads of sweet. Her tongue flicked across her fine pink lips and she swallowed gently.

"Come here." She urged with a sly grin, as she leaned forward and started tugging on my arms.

I submitted to her pulling and crawled myself forward and planted a kiss on her waiting lips. She slipped her small hand around my cock and gave it a firm squeeze.

"That actually ain't for you." I said with a chuckle.

"Huh?"

I guess she wouldn't understand the morning mechanics of a man.

"I can give it to you for a bit, but nothin's gonna happen. I really need to take a piss."

She released my cock letting it flick back against my guts.

"Never mind. The moments lost." She said with a sigh.

I chuckled and then gave her another kiss, holding her lips between mine for a few seconds, wondering if she would still be able to taste herself.

"Promise I'll get you again tonight." I said as I pulled away from her.

The woman was a slave driver; I had given it to her at least twice a night for the past few nights, trying to make up for the weeks we had lost before that. She was always begging me for more. But a man's gotta take time out to rest and replenish. Plus we were just about out of rubbers again. And I really did need to take a piss.

I crawled off the sofa and stepped into my jeans that were crumpled on the floor, and hefted them up over my hips and did the belt up. I looked back to Beth who was lying on her belly on the couch, with her legs kicked up behind her swaying gently from side to side, with her toes curling just like they had a few moments earlier. Her heart-shaped face was propped on her hands, and her blonde hair curled down over her bare shoulders, and fell to the side of her tits. She looked like a motherfucking goddess.

"Actually, I'll get you when I get back." I grinned at her, and she gave me a sheepish smile before dropping her head back down on to the arm of the sofa, and rolling on to her back.

I tore my eyes away from her and headed for the office door.

I was grinning to myself like an idiot and not paying attention to where I was walking as I stepped through the door. I stood on something warm and bumpy that gave a yelp when I put my full weight on it.

I looked down to see Austin rubbing at the fingers I had trodden on.

I quickly closed the door behind me, hoping he didn't get a glimpse of Beth sprawled over the sofa in all her naked glory.

"How long you been sittin' there for?"

Austin looked up at me with his cool blue eyes, wide open, and haunted.

"Were you..." He swallowed in an anxious kind of way. "Hurting her?"

Fuck. How much had he heard? I felt my face grow hot thinking about how I was going to explain it to the kid. I certainly couldn't have him thinking I had been hurting her in there.

"Umm…No…she's right….we were…"

Austin's expression quickly changed from distraught to amused.

"I'm just messin' with ya, I know what you were doing." He chuckled and gave his head a gentle toss, and then pulled himself to his feet, leaning on the wall for support.

"You do?"

"Yeah I lived in a room with like a hundred adults for nearly two years. You think they didn't have sex?"

I crossed my arms defensively over my chest, not sure whether to laugh with him or give him a clip behind the ear.

"Alright you little pervert; Why ya hangin' 'bout our room anyway?"

Austin bounced up and down on his toes excitedly.

"You're goin' huntin' today right?"

"…right."

"And I did really good last week, right? When we went to the school?"

"Yeah. You did good kid."

"So you think I could come with you today?"

I glanced back to the obscure glass panel in the principal's office door.

"You're gonna have to run that by Beth. She's the boss, I just work 'ere."

"C'mon, you know she'll say no. You need to make her say yes. Tell her you need me or somethin'."

I didn't need anyone to go hunting, and certainly not a little kid. But he had proven himself to be useful, and I actually didn't mind being around him at times. He was a smart ass, with a cool sense of humour. I really liked the kid.

"Alright kid, I'll talk to her." I put my hand to his shoulder and shifted him out of my path.

"Now move aside and lemme take my mornin' piss."

When I came back upstairs to pack up my gear I found Beth fully dressed and perched up on the principals desk holding my camera in her hands and eyeing it over.

"You're dressed."

She glanced up at me and then back down to the camera. "Yeah I am."

"Thought you wanted me to finish you off?"

Her lips curled into a smile, and she peered up at me slyly.

"I did. But you took too long, and I got bored."

"Bored huh?" I smirked at her and then walked around the room collecting the clothes that had been thrown about last night when Beth had been ripping them off me without a care for her usual need of cleanliness and order.

"You know I sang you my song." Beth began passing my camera from hand to hand, turning it around slowly.

"Yeah you did. It was real sweet. Real sexy. I never woulda thought a song about kids could be so sexy."

Beth blushed and drew her shoulders to her ears, looking like she was somehow embarrassed by her skills in music and being sexy.

"So…can I see your pics?"

"You ain't seen 'em yet?" I nodded to the camera in her hands, and then pulled my flannel over my head.

"No. You said you would show me when you were ready…so I waited."

I dropped my face to my buttons while I did them up, still feeling a little uncomfortable about Beth seeing them. "…I dunno."

"Don't I dunno, can I or can't I?"

I shrugged my shoulders, and Beth chuckled softly at me

"Do you think I'll make fun of you or somethin'?"

"…Maybe."

"Don't be silly. Let me have a look at them. Pleeeease" She batted the lashes of her big blues at me. I couldn't say no to those eyes.

"Well it's in your hands so might as well."

I heard the digital chiming of the camera turning on, and then the whirring of the lens as it adjusted. I walked up behind her to look at the pictures as she did.

The first few pics were simple ones. Most of them were of her playing with the kids, or digging in the garden. A few of her smiling and posing, some of her sleeping; She grinned up at me when she saw those. Then there were some of the kids and Mix, some of the woodland surrounding the school. Some of flowers, unkempt buildings and tree canopies.

I felt a wave of anxiety wash over me when she got to the next part.

"Oh my…gosh." She glanced up at me with her brows furrowed in what looked like disgust…or fear...or anger.

"Oh dear lord!" She cried again.

"See, that's why I didn't wanna show you." I tried to snatch the camera out of her grip, but she ducked out of my reach and stepping away from the office desk.

"No…No, I'm still looking…just most of these are of walkers and…Daryl!"

She held the screen up for me to show that she was looking at a pic I had taken of a large group of walkers I had found that were somehow walking in a perfect line. It was one of my favourites.

"Daryl, this is so dangerous, these pictures are so close!" She kept flicking through them. I knew there were more than one in there of a walkers gnashing jaws about to grind against the lens piece.

"I'm still here ain't I?"

"But why?…Why do you have so many pictures of walkers?"

"I dunno…I kind of wanted to capture the person…behind all the blood, and rot and stench. They always look kinda lost and sad. It's…"

She was staring at me, the irises of her eyes shrinking as her pupils dilated.

"Daryl…that is beautiful."

"Really? I think they're kinda gross looking."

Beth looked back to the screen.

"They are. But what you're trying to capture is beautiful. You remembered these things were people before all this." She smiled to herself, repeating a line she had said to me not all that long ago.

"Yeah I guess. It's somethin' you taught me."

"No. It's something you taught yourself. You don't need anyone for anythin'." She teased.

"Like hell I don't." I said, as I dragged her in and wrapped my arm around her tiny, soft shoulders, and reached for the camera with my free hand.

I crooked my neck and placed a warm, wet, lingering kiss on to her lips and then drew back to look into her eyes.

"You know I still need to get some photos of you." I raised an eyebrow suggestively.

"You have plenty of photos of me."

She obviously didn't get what I was suggesting.

"Nah. I mean somethin' special." I trailed my hand over her shoulder and down her chest and rested it on her tit. "Somethin' to keep me warm, when I'm out there on my own huntin'."

She giggled at me, most likely realising what I was getting at.

"I can't do that!"

I ran my fingers down her tee and tucked them into the waist of her jeans.

"C'mon, girl, no-ones gonna see 'em but me."

She pulled away from my hands and took a step back.

"One of my friends in high school, Sarah McKay, she let a boy take dirty pics of her, and they ended up all over the internet."

I couldn't help but laugh at what she was implying.

"Well there ain't no internets, so you don't needa be worryin' 'bout that do you"

She tossed her pale gold locks around her shoulders.

"I don't think I can Daryl. That's so…wanton. I'm not a wanton person."

"Like hell you ain't, girl. You ain't given me no rest since the night you turned into a stoner."

Beth flushed red before me, and I couldn't help but think of making her come again so she stayed that way.

"Well maybe I need some time to think on takin' that kinda risk again, just like with those… joints."

I kissed her smirking lips.

"Speakin' of risk, Awse really wants to come with me today."

"Huntin'?"

"Yeah…so can he?"

She chuckled. "Why're you askin' me? You're as responsible for him as I am."

"Well you're always naggin' the poor kid to do his lessons and what not."

Beth rubbed her hands along the collar of my flannel.

"I think that boy will learn more from you than he ever could from me."

She wasn't wrong there. The kid certainly wasn't an academic; he liked sun and sweat and dirt. Just like I did at his age.

"In fact." Beth pulled away from me and walked over to the oak cabinet underneath the aerial picture of the school. She picked up her Stryker that she had been leaving there.

"You should teach him how to use your crossbow."

"Your crossbow." I corrected

"Our crossbow." She pressed it into my arms.

"The kids not gonna be able to use the thing, you barely could, I know I like to tease ya that you aren't, but you're stronger than a twelve year old boy."

"He doesn't have to use it properly, Daryl, just let him pull the trigger, let him feel strong and special."

I didn't know from any personal experience, but I guessed it was important for twelve year old boys to feel strong and special.

I took Austin and Mix about an hour out of the town to go hunting. I had passed through the area before and it was rich with game, being so far away from the towns.

Austin's eyes had lit up when I handed the Stryker to him, even though he nearly collapsed under the weight of the thing. Mix looked up at me with eyes that asked 'what the hell are you doing?'

"This is so cool." Austin said rubbing his hand over the limbs.

"Why don't you try drawin' it." I said with a smirk, thinking of the first time Beth tried to draw it

The kid must have been watching Beth as he knew where to put his foot and where to tug it. But just like on her first time, his little arms jiggled, as he tugged and strained, and his hands and face turned a shade of crimson.

"That's really hard! It must even be hard for Beth. How did she end up with somethin' like this?"

"Used to be mine." I took the bow of him and drew the string back into the latch and loaded a bolt for him. "I gave it to her."

I handed the bow back to him, and he looked it over again.

"Why did you give it to her? I mean, it's pretty cool. Even cooler than your bow." He pointed to the Airborne on my back.

"I don't know…I guess I wanted her to have somethin' from me. Somethin' that mattered."

"Is it really important?"

"Yeah. That thing was like my best buddy for a long time. I never let no-one touch her that I didn't care about." I looked over the boy, and gave him a smile. "And I think Beth feels the same way about it now."

Understanding my meaning Austin blushed and looked to his joggers.

"I like Beth too. She's real nice. I don't mean to be a smart ass to her all the time, that's just the way I had to be…you know, because of everything that happened."

"Yeah I know." I gave the kid a chuck on the shoulder. "Don't you worry 'bout Beth, she has plenty of experience dealin' with smart asses." I winked at the kid and he gleamed up at me.

The kid was a smart-ass, but even I cared about him. I turned away from his smile, feeling awkward about all the sentimental feelings I was having and moved behind him so I could help him to raise the Stryker and get it into position.

"Now you put your hand here." I moved his left hand to the grip. "And your other hand goes on the trigger. "He tried shifting the bow around so that he could reach the grip with the butt of the stock in his shoulder, and ended up settling with his elbow poking out in the air at an awkward angle.

"Do I look like a bad-ass?" He asked glancing up at me.

He looked like a cat playing a fiddle.

"Yeah kid, you look bad-ass."

"Can I shoot it?"

"You wanna find something to shoot at first?"

"Aww heck, no. This thing is heavy. I just wanna shoot it once, and then we can leave it. I'll just help you track or somethin'."

"You know how to track?"

His wobbling arms gave way and he dropped the bow down with a sigh.

"Yeah. My Grandpa used to take me hunting sometimes…with my dad."

My Grandpa took me out once or twice when I was a kid too. He was as much of an ass as my dad was. It was like hell sharing a tent with the pair.

I focused on a large oak tree, trying to shake the memory.

"Okay kid. Take a shot at that tree over there." I pointed at the tree.

The kid lifted the bow again with a grunt, held it in to place, squinted down the sight and pulled the trigger. The bolt flew out and hit the trunk of the tree dead centre.

"You're a natural." I said as I took the bow out of his hands. "Just gotta build up that strength and you'll be a mini…" My words trailed off as I realised what I was about to say.

"You'll be real good."

I took the Stryker back to the bike that was tucked in hidden behind a bush, and hung it over the handle bars, and then walked back through the trees to see if we could pick up on a trail.

Mix and Austin went ahead, while I kept watch from behind, keeping an eye out for any tracks they missed, or any other danger that might appear, such as animal traps.

It was Austin that spotted something first.

"Hey dad, come look at this!" He called to me with a wave of his hand.

It wasn't the first time he had called me that. Just about all the kids had been calling Beth momma lately, and most had called me dad at some time or other, but it really creeped me out when Austin did it. The kid reminded me so much of myself it was eerie, but if the kid was like me, and I was like his dad, then it made me like…him.

"Don't be callin' me dad."

"Sorry I meant to say Daryl, my tongue slipped."

"Yeah well get that tongue some traction. I ain't nobody's daddy."

"Okay…Daryl."

"What is it?"

"Tracks. that's a deer right?"

"Sure is. Smart kid you are. Don't need no books."

He smiled up at me, and I smiled back.

We followed the tracks for a few dozen yards, before they ended abruptly on a dirt covered asphalt road. I hadn't seen the road approach from behind the thick growth of trees, and I hadn't seen the garage and gas station that was on the other side of the road either.

The gas station was ancient. The pumps looked so old, they were surely only there for a gimmicky purpose, but the garage looked fairly new. It was made from sheet metal and had a dulled-out neon sign hanging over a series of roller doors. One of the doors was rolled up about a yard off the ground.

I had stopped looking for batteries the day I got home from Austin's school, and Beth told me she wanted to stay. I could see why she wanted to. It was safe and secure and sustainable, but it was lacking something big. Our family. Looking at this garage placed so obscurely in the middle of nowhere it almost felt like fate that I would find what I needed in there.

"I'm gonna check it out." I said turning back to Austin. "You stay back behind the trees with Mix."

"Why? I wanna come."

I pointed to the partially open door that had lines smudged all around the base like a hand had recently been on it.

"Just lemme check it out first, I'll call you over if it's safe."

Austin's face was rife with disappointment, but he nodded anyway.

"Don't come unless I call." I reiterated.

Austin called Mixy with a pat against his sweat pants and went back in to the trees.

I backed onto the sheet metal with my Airborne drawn and ready, and sidled my way around to the open doorway. Crouching low I peered into the garage to see if it was empty. It looked like it was save for two car bodies, and everything else you would expect to see in a garage…including batteries. I kept myself low while I made my way toward the cars and looked around and in them to make sure no-one was lurking, then I made my way over to the low shelving unit that housed a variety of batteries. I crept along the floor examining them until I saw one that looked about the right size and shape to fit in the bus back at Austin's school. I went down to my knee and put my Airborne down on the ground beside me, while I slid out the battery and then lay my palm on it to measure it up.

My Airborne slipping out of view at my side turned me from my task. I grabbed for the arm as it scrapped across the floor and ended up with fingertips scratched on the rough-brushed concrete and a handful of cold hard nothing. I moved my hand back to my hip, flicked the snap on my sheathe, slid out my Busse, and turned to face the massive mottled green beefcake who had hold of my bow.

"What you lookin' for? Beans and bullets?"

Beefcake would have been twice the size of Abraham. He had arms the size of my legs, and a head that looked like it was built to smash boulders. Like Abraham, he had a militant look about him, exaggerated by the fact he was dressed in full military combat gear.

He casually twisted my Airborne around while eyeing the Busse in my hand. My eyes roamed the garage to see there were four others in here with us. All dressed in military combats, and all strapped up with firearms. They had snuck in without me even noticing. For that to happen they were more than likely skilled in the art of stealth and hadn't just pulled the uniform from a dead carcass.

"You out here on your own fella?" Beefcakes voice was smooth and confident.

Most kids were encouraged from a young age to trust in a uniform. My own experience had taught me not to trust anyone, especially those in authority. Even if I put my own upbringing aside, this world had changed people, and mostly for the worse.

I looked over the men, their unwashed, unshaven faces smirking like they knew something I didn't. They stood all geared up, ready for war, with a slump in their stance like they didn't give a fuck about anything. There were blood stains on the sleeves of their khaki coloured jackets, that looked like it had come from a fresh ─non-walker─ source, and they had the smell; the same smell that Joe's group had. No, these were not the type that went around protecting civilians.

There were too many to take on my own, especially when they were obviously trained killers. Maybe if I could make them believe I was like them, just like with Joe's group, they would let me keep my life.

"Yeah. Lost my crew a while back." I tried at a convincing lie, not wanting them to go searching for others and find Austin.

"Lone Ranger, hey?" Beefcake looked pleased. "You gonna kill us all with that..." He cocked his head to the side to examine my knife. "Busse…Gemini?"

He knew his combat weapons. More evidence the uniform wasn't just for show. I could take down one with my knife if I was lucky, but the two in the back already had Hand guns on me and the others were dripping with firearms, explosives and melee gear.

"Suicide is stupid. Why hurt yourself when you can hurt others." I spoke the line I had heard straight out of a killer's mouth, and I hoped I had recited it convincingly enough.

The beefcake in front of me grinned widely under his thick moustache and the four men behind him sniggered.

"I think we got a Hotel Alpha on our hands." Beefcake looked around to his men and their sniggers turned into hoarse cackles over the inside joke I didn't understand. "Look at 'im, runnin' around with his…" Beefcake held up the Airborne to examine it. "What's that Hickley? 101st Airborne? Didn't young Danny have one of them over at Foxtrot?"

The guy he called Hickley, glanced at the bow and nodded. "Yep 101st Airborne."

"Yeah Danny was a hard-ass wasn't he?"

"He was a hard-ass." Replied Hickley, and all five of the men chuckled.

"Are you a hard-ass…" Beefcake waved his hand in the air like he wanted me to offer my name.

"Daryl."

"Daryl. I'm O'Reilly." He stuck his thumb into his barrel like chest. "This fella here is Hickley. This is Johnson." He thumbed to the men by his side "And in the back, Callaghan and Black."

He wanted me to know their names; did he want to give me the chance to remember them?

"You a hard-ass Daryl?" Asked Beefcake O'Reilly.

Assimilate and survive.

"I do what needs to be done."

"I bet you do." He flashed me a twisted smile, revealing shiny white teeth. "That's the thing about this world were finding ourselves in. All these pussies come out of the works, grease a few Zulus, and think they're suddenly hard-asses." He looked back to his men who continued to snigger. "You know what we were doin' before all this shit happened? Before we got pulled back to the blocks to play guardian angel?"

I didn't answer. It seemed like a rhetorical question.

"We were chasin' down the dark and sneakies with sand in our panties chaffing our cracks and sacks. We were highly trained combat artists. We were the ones creamin' targets that actually posed a threat. You know ones that could actually think. Quick on their feet, lighting reflexes, knew how to aim and fire a weapon. We were true killers; the original hard-asses, and now everyone with a gun…or a bow, thinks they can be just as hard as us."

I looked over the men again calculating my options. If I slit the throat of beefcake here, kicked Hickley in the nuts, stabbed Johnson up through the jaw…I would probably only be shot… three times.

"I'll give you this, pal. It does take a bit of skill to carry one of them around." He gave my Airborne a shake. "Give you them strong arms hey?" Beefcake ran his eyes up my arms.

I stared at him, not knowing what answer could be the difference between life and death.

"And you're out here on your own, right?"

He was prying. No way fucker, I'm not giving anyone up.

"Said I was."

"You lonely? Lookin' for some company?"

"Guess I could do with some." I said it to suggest I was open to the idea of following them and there no-good ways, just like with Joe's group. When the words had left my mouth I hadn't fully taken in the tone of his previous question, or his little monologue about hard-asses, but now as I looked at the sickeningly sly smile growing on his thin dry lips, I knew that these guys were far more dangerous than Joe's group. And I had given them the wrong answer.

"Hear that boys? He wants some company."

Adrenaline pumped through my veins, preparing my body for action.

Fight or flee

I braced my boots firmly against the floor, and tightened the grip around my Busse, as the fuckers circled around me, prowling like alley-cats.

"We can give you some company for the night if you like… but you could never be one of us, and we'll sure have fun proving that to you."

"He's a pretty one with all his long hair." Crowed Johnson as he stepped to my right.

"Yeah I bet if we rolled him over we wouldn't know the difference." Called Hickley as he took position on my left

I tried backing my way to the open door, hoping I could make a run for it, dodge out the door and hide in the bushes. Maybe lead them away from Austin and come back later when it was dark.

"I think I'd rather go it alone, so thanks for the enthrallin' conversation but…"

"Hold on blue eyes, where you goin?" Callaghan blocked the path to the door. He looked over my shoulder to the others. "Don't need to roll him over when he got them pretty blue eyes. I don't mind lookin' into eyes like that while I fuck." He leered at me, and my guts twisted and turned as I saw his thoughts in his eyes.

I took a fighting stance and lifted my Busse ready to plunge it into the next person that made a move.

"Now don't do somethin' stupid, we don't want to have to kill you. We really don't." Beefcake O'Reilly gleamed his wolf-like teeth at me. "Now your ass might be sore for a while, but you'll remember. You'll remember what you were before all this started. Nothing."

Nothing.

They were going to take away any pride and worth I had left, and leave me with nothing. Just like before I had met Beth, before I had met Rick. Just before.

I did the calculations again of how many I could take down before I was killed or worse. Maybe if I took down the biggest threat; if I could use Beefcake O'Reilly here as a shield, I might be able to get to the door and make a run for it.

Beefcake and Hickley were approaching me now as I backed my way towards Callaghan, by the door.

I swung my Busse high and arced it down and backwards towards Beefcake, and it was met by a sharp crack to my wrist as Hickley blocked it, grabbed my arm and twisted it up behind my back in a swift movement, that caused me to lose grip of my Busse. These guys weren't talking shit before. They were without a doubt military trained, and pretty darn well at that.

I lifted my boot and went to slam it down on Hickley's instep, but before I made contact, Johnson had kicked my leg out and I landed heavily on to the floor face first, knocking my temple in to the ground. Now my head was spinning, my ears were ringing and I was seeing stars. And I must have been concussed as I heard a voice that I knew couldn't possibly exist.

"You're nobody, your nothin'."

I lifted my eyes from the grease stained concrete floor and looked to where the voice had come from. He was sitting leaning out of the passenger side of the sedan with his mud crusted boots planted firmly on the ground. His age marked and loose skinned arm was bent at the elbow and his gnarled fingers gripped a cigarette. He drew in on the cigarette and then let the smoke seep out as he gave me a grin that made my skin crawl. Now my old man didn't usually smoke, but the man I was staring at was without a doubt him.

"Get 'im up fellas." Called Beefcake O'Reilly, breaking my trance-like state.

Hickley and Johnson heaved me up and started dragging me over to the car that my old man was sitting in.

"Nothin'." He called again.

I shook my head a few times trying to regain some sense, and then struggled against the grip of the two men that had me, tugging my arms in towards my body and trying to twist my wrists free. Their grip was firm, so I tried kicking my legs out, but they dodged skilfully out of the way. I tried tossing my body around hoping to throw them of balance, but they simply heaved me, back first, on to the trunk of the car, and held me in place while Beefcake approached me.

I lifted my feet, and driving from my hips, I lunged them towards O'Reilly's face. He took a skilful step back and knocked my feet down with a swipe of his arm, before smashing his mallet fist into my eye socket, sending a searing pain up the entire left side of my face, and making my head spin all over again.

"May as well roll 'im over boys. Those blues are gonna be black anyhow."

Hickley and Johnson twisted my arms until I lifted my shoulders and then they forced me to roll over. Then O'Reilly was standing behind me with one of his mallets pressed down on the back of my scalp, gripping my hair and pushing my throbbing face down into the cold metal of the trunk.

"You see my bros, Callaghan and Black here. They've got two Berrettas aimed at your head. If you make this too hard for me, they're gonna blow your brains out from two directions…Now I don't wanna kill you. I would much rather you live knowing you were fucked by O'Reilly." I could hear the clinking of metal and imagined it was his belt, and my stomach twisted and churned.

"They're gonna fuck you like the bitch you are." Called my old man.

I was powerless. Just like I was when I was a kid and he beat the shit out of me, or when the governor killed Merle, or when he killed Hershel, or when Beth was raped by Anton. I couldn't do anything. I couldn't even yell or call out. If I did, I knew Mix would come running, and Austin would follow. There was no way I was having him here with these fuckers.

They didn't want to kill me, they had made that clear, they just wanted to teach me a lesson. So maybe if I just grit my teeth, I could get through it. I could endure it just for the chance to see Austin to safety, and for the chance to see Beth again, even though I could never look her in the eye.

My breakfast caught in my throat as I felt Beefcake O'Reilly's hands, reaching around my waist and tugging at my belt.

"Look he's cryin. He's cryin' for his momma." Called out Johnson from my side.

I could feel wetness pooling around my cheek. Fuck I was crying. Crying like a little bitch.

I twisted my head upwards trying to hide my face and caught sight of my old man in the passenger seat puffing out a mouthful of smoke. The back window was fully intact, but I could still hear his voice as clear as if he was talking straight into my ear.

"You're momma ain't here. She's dead, burnt to a crisp thanks to these smokes I got 'ere." He looked to the cigarette in his hand. "Your shit of a brother ain't here neither. You're all alone."

He threw his head back and made an awful wheezing, chuckling sound as his whole body shook. Then a dirty, scar covered arm snapped out from the driver's side of the car and ripped the cigarette out of his fingers. My dad looked to the driver's seat in shock and I followed his gaze back to the face of my brother, Merle.

"What're you a pansy now, Darlina? huh? You gonna moan for 'em and beg 'em for more? Why aren't you fightin' back?"

"I can't." I muttered, turning my face back in to the trunk.

"Blondie, don't love you, she's usin' you to keep her safe. Nobody loves you but old Merle and no brother of mine's bein' no god damn ass-fucked pansy."

I felt the pressure of Beefcake's hand leave my head and I heard him hock a few times, sounding like he was dragging phlegm from the bottom of his throat and then he spat it out.

I spat out chunks of half-digested bread mixed with bile that had finally made their way from my guts to my mouth.

"He's lubin' you up Darlina, What the hell are you gonna do now?" I looked back to him to see his brows raise and his eyes widen, waiting for me to respond.

"Why don't you take a tip from officer friendly?" Merle's lips sneered to the side and he winked his eye.

Hickley and Johnson were chuckling to themselves, they thought they had won. They thought I had given in. They were off guard and their grip had loosened slightly, if I was forceful enough I might just be able to reach him. I knew I couldn't take them all on. O'Reilly would probably crush my skull with his bare hands, but I had accepted my fate, and I was nobody's bitch.

I clenched my hands into fists and pressed them down on to the trunk. I braced all the muscles in my arms and chest and then propelled my head backwards with all the force I had in me, and hoped it hit where I wanted it to.

The crack and shout, and the throbbing in the back of my head told me I had. Johnson and Hickley were staring behind me towards where O'Reilly had been, and were too stunned to react. I lifted the arm attached to the smaller one, Johnson, and dragged him forward over the trunk and off his feet, as I ripped my arm out of the grip of Hickley and slammed my elbow down into Johnson's throat crushing his windpipe.

"Look out baby brother."

Hickley lunged for me, but this time I was ready, I slipped away from him and rolled back on to the trunk of the car.

"Kill the fucker!" Called O'Reilly as he held his bleeding nose. I caught a glimpse of Callaghan cocking his Beretta, which was following me as I slid along the trunk. I made to jump away, and fell to the ground tripping on my jeans that were still wrapped around my ankles. I rolled to the side hoping to avoid any bullets and heard a familiar high-pitched battlecry.

Austin flashed past me, jumped on to a nearby shelf and flung himself towards Callaghan with his little knife held high. He landed on Callaghan's back, gripping his legs around his waist, and slammed the blade down into his neck. Callaghan shook his gun arm around wildly while trying to shake Austin off and I rolled back again trying to avoid his aim. I heard a gunshot, which cracked and echoed through the garage and mingled in with an animalistic growling, yelling and cries of confusion.

"Get up lil bro." Merle jumped into view crouching over me with wild eyes.

I looked above Merle's head to see O'Reilly's large boot hurtling towards my face. I rolled to the side and was caught by Hickley who dragged me upwards. I pulled myself out of his grip, by throwing myself on to the trunk of the car and grabbed hold of the knife from Johnson's choking body. I flung the blade into Hickley's face, and dragged it back out releasing a stream of hot blood.

I turned back to Beefcake O'Reilly, to see he was struggling to tear away at Mix's jaws that were embedded in his throat.

There was one left; Black. I turned to see his forearm was covered in bits of dangling flesh and blood stained material, and figured the growling I heard earlier was Mix who had already had a go at him while my back was turned.

Black was holding his Beretta at the ready and darting the aim of his muzzle between Mix, Austin and me looking unsure of who was the biggest threat. His eyes and aim rested on me just as I flicked the knife in my grip, tugged it up to my ear and flung it in his direction. The blade made a satisfying popping sound as it went through his eye and embedded in his skull, and was followed by a gunshot as Black crumpled backwards. I turned back to Mix to see a throatless O'Reilly fall to the floor and a pool of red pump out around him.

I hiked up my jeans and fumbled at my belt, trying to get a grip on the buckle with my shaking, blood soaked hands, while I double checked to make sure my attackers were down.

Black had the knife embedded in his face. Hickley had a deep, fleshy gash between his eyes, Johnson had the crushed windpipe, O' Reilly was on the floor throatless and in a pool of red that was still pumping from his wound. Callaghan was on the ground by Austin's feet with blood gurgling out of a dozen holes in his chest, shoulders and neck.

I stumbled backwards, feeling weak and giddy, and with my head still throbbing and spinning from the last time I had been hit.

"You're hurt." Called a panting Austin, pointing his finger towards me.

I looked to the shoulder he was pointing at to see blood was seeping out from a small pit of mangled raw flesh. It was from a bullet I didn't even know I had caught. It was just a straight through graze, but it was bleeding a shit-ton and it would need to be patched up. I pressed my palm to my shoulder and groaned at the sudden recognition of pain.

I looked back towards the car to see if Merle were still there. Merle was gone, but my old man was there, leaning against the roof of the car shaking his head at me.

"Told you, you was weak. You need a mothafuckin' kid and puppy dog to help you out. Pussy."

"Why didn't you listen to me?" I growled, as I turned back to Austin.

Austin looked up at me wide-eyed and bewildered, and then looked back to the corpse at his feet. He raised his hands and examined the knife and blood that covered his arms up to his elbow.

"The blood…it's warm." He muttered.

"I told you to stay back, you lil' shit."

He flicked his eyes up at me with the shocked look still on his face.

"If I did they would have…."

"Yeah, and they mighta done it to you too."

Tears welled in Austin's eyes, and his shoulders heaved as he let out a large sob, crying like the little bitch he was.

"What the fuck're you cryin for? nothin' happened to you." I snapped.

"I've never killed a person before, asshole!" Austin swiped his bloody hand over his face, collected tears and snot as it went.

"You know I'm gettin' sick of your filthy fuckin' mouth, boy." I stalked towards him, shaking the finger from my free hand.

"I hear that shit outta your mouth again and you'll be pickin' your teeth off the floor." That line was right outta my old man's mouth, and I could hear him say it with me unison. I knew I shouldn't be saying that shit, but for some reason it felt natural and kind of cathartic. I glanced over to my old man and watched his body shake as he laughed at me.

I knew he was here to tell me how much of a fuck-up I had been. I had been stupid walking right into that situation. The old Daryl never would have; the old Daryl who saw the world for all the blood and piss and shit that it was. This new Daryl was a pussy. He sat around playing with kids and dogs and took dumbass pictures of flowers and sang songs with pretty girls. I had played house with Beth for too long, and it had made me soft. Soft fuckers didn't survive in this world, and I was sick of pretending to be an indoor cat anyway.

I walked back over to the trunk of the car that my old man was leaning on and rested against it while I examined the bullet wound. I took out my rag from my back pocket and flipped it over my shoulder, and winced as I bent my arm up to hold the rag in place, while I tied a knot.

"Pussy." My old man sniggered.

"Pass me them smokes there." I pointed to the pack of cigarettes that were poking out of Callaghan's jacket pocket.

Without taking his angry little eyes off me, he picked up the smokes and threw them my way. I caught them with one hand. And I pulled a cigarette out, put it in my mouth, lit it with my lighter and took a few drags.

Austin looked to the dressing on my shoulder and screwed his face up. "That rag's real dirty. Is that even safe?"

"I don't care." I snapped back at him, and took in several deep drags of my smoke, until it was nothing but filter and then threw it on to the grease covered floor.

"You were gonna let them ass-fuck you so you could be with goldilocks and the fifteen bears." My old man crooned. "And if toddler Timmy 'ere didn't help you, they woulda been fuckin' your dead corpse…Pussy."

"Get all their shit." I called to Austin as I walked over to the military duffle bag near one of the tyres of the car that was half filled with firearms and explosives. I picked it up collected my Busse and Airborne off the ground and dropped the bag in front of Austin so he could put what he had found in it.

Austin looked up at me, with a furrowed brow and a twisted mouth, while he shoved the last of the gear into the bag.

"Are you even gonna thank me?"

"Nuh." I grunted as I lifted the bag on my good shoulder and went back to the shelf to grab the battery that would deliver me from the nursery I had been living in for the past two months.

"Pussy."

...

I backed the bike into its usual spot under the glass canopy by the entry. Mix jumped off and bounded out of sight around the side of the school, like he couldn't get away from me fast enough, and I unloaded the bag of gear and supplies we had scavenged from the garage. I dumped everything down on to the ground, then turned back to Austin and took the battery out of his arms so he could get off the bike.

"Don't tell Beth what happened, okay?" I said to Austin, while I pointed a cautionary finger at his face.

"She's gonna see…" Austin started, pointing to my shoulder.

"Not about that you lil' fucker, about what almost happened."

Austin screwed his face up at me, and then kicked at the dirt with his joggers, before marching up the brick paved steps and pushing through the front door to the school.

I tucked the battery under my arm, resting it against my hip, and then heaved the bag up on my shoulder and followed him in.

I didn't bother going to see Beth or the kids like I usually did when I came back from a run. I just went straight down the hall towards the showers. I could still feel Beefcake's slobber, sticking between my ass cheeks, and it had been heavy on mind on the ride home.

I dumped all the supplies down on one of the benches and tore off my bloody and filthy clothing, and went straight into the shower stall. I grabbed the sliver of sticky soap and lathered it up in my hands and rubbed it over my aching muscles, slipping off the rag on my shoulder that was sodden in blood and water. It slapped on to the ground, and I watched Red spiral out of it and down the drain.

I stood in the searing hot shower, staring at the tiles in front of my face, while I scrubbed against my skin, and listened to my old man's voice call over and over again in my head.

Pussy. You're weak, You're nothin'.

When my skin was stinging and red raw, I shut the shower off, wrapped a towel around my hips and walked over to one of the mirrors next to the shower stalls, scooping up my Busse from on top of my pile of clothes on the way. I stood in front of the mirror and looked at my shaggy hair that had gotten completely out of control over the past year or so. It really did make me look like a bitch.

I grabbed a handful of hair and hacked away at it with my Busse, letting the strands slip through my fingers and land in the pools of water at my feet. I looked back up to see a wide eyed, open mouthed Beth appear in the mirror behind me.

"What the hell happened to you!" She cried, stepping forward to examine my bruised and swollen face and the seeping wound on my shoulder.

"Nothin'." I shrugged away from her touch.

"Nothin'? Austin's out there all covered in blood too."

"Ran into some trouble."

"Good lord!" She turned away from me and began sifting through the lockers, and pulled out a clean looking white tee and a roll of adhesive tape. She came back and prodded her cool fingers against my tender shoulder.

"This'll need stitches."

She tore at the shirt with her teeth, and put the rags to my shoulder, delicately folding them and pressing them down on the inflamed fresh. Her hands were gentle, soft and nurturing, just like her. She wouldn't have survived this far if it weren't for me. Of course she was using me. I continued to saw at my hair as I thought of ways I could use her back.

"What the hell are you doin' to your hair?" She chuckled at me and then made to grab at my Busse. I shook her hand away and continued hacking, watching her pout at me in the mirrors reflection.

When a cut in my hair revealed the gash on my temple, she tutted and then ripped off a small section of the tee and dabbed it on my wound, while I moved around her hands with my blade.

When I was happy with the length of my hair, I tossed my Busse into the basin and glared into the mirror. The reflection showed my beaten, bloody and bruised self and the image of untouched perfection behind me. She grabbed me by my good shoulder and turned me to face her.

"Daryl, are you okay?" Her eyes were big pools of worry and concern. She probably wanted me to reassure her and make her feel better. But I didn't feel like comforting her. I felt like comforting myself.

I grabbed her by the back of her head, tangling my hand into her blonde locks, and pulled her towards me, forcing my lips hard up against hers. Our teeth knocked together and she let out a cry of pain, but I covered her wailing mouth with my own, and forced my tongue into her mouth stopping her from making any more sound.

Beth moved her hands up from my shoulders, to my neck and then ran her fingers through my freshly cut hair. She responded to my forceful kissing, trying to fight my tongue with her own, while my hands went to her waist and tore at her belt.

She pulled away from my mouth, with an amused curl to her lips. "Daryl what's got into you?" She glanced down to where my hands were unbuttoning the fly on her jeans.

"Nothin'." I grunted as I tugged her jeans and panties down to her boots. I put my hands behind her knees and pulled them forward so her legs collapsed and she fell down onto the tiles with a thud and a wet slap.

She let out a surprised cry, and then wriggled her torso forward pushing her arms into the puddles of bloody, hair filled water.

"The floor's all wet." She held up a hand, matted with hair.

"I don't care." I muttered.

I ripped away my towel and climbed between her legs, kneeling on the bundled up jeans around her boots to keep them out of the way. I pushed her back forcefully onto the tiles with one hand, while I moved her thigh to the side with the other.

"The kids will hear us." She looked up at me with her oblivious, innocent blue eyes, glowing brightly amongst her flushed pink skin.

"I don't care."

I slammed myself into her driving through her delicate lips and into her hot, tight and unprepared pussy. She let out a shocked yelp, arched her back, and dug her nails into my undamaged shoulder. I pulled her ass towards me while grinding my hips against her thighs, and pushing my cock in as far as it could reach. I allowed myself to be consumed by the feel of her protesting muscles, and the sound of her moans that were a mixture of pleasure and pain.

"Condom." She gasped.

"I don't care."

I thrust into her again and again, knocking her head back on to the tiled floor. I pinned her down with my heavy aching body, and buried my face into the pale gold hair that looped and curled across the wet floor.

She giggled.

She mother fucking giggled.

If only she knew the shit that was going through my head.

AN: Put your hand up if you made it through to the end. Yep, Daryl is going somewhere really dark. But Beth is his light so he'll pull through. Discuss your feelings, good and bad.